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Advice and guidance to assist you in your quest for a Masters or PhD degree<br>
in the Department of Computer Sciences at the University of Texas  
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<p>

<H2>Starting out</H2>
If you are considering attending graduate school, 
<!WA1><!WA1><A HREF="http://communication.ucsd.edu/pagre/grad-school.html">Advice for 
Undergraduates Considering Graduate School</A> contains some good advice.
A <!WA2><!WA2><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/advice-undergrad.html">
local copy</a> (potentially out of date) is available in case that link
is not active.
<p>
In 1993, the <!WA3><!WA3><A HREF="http://www.nas.edu">National Academy of Sciences</A> 
published a report on the current state and future direction of
<!WA4><!WA4><A HREF="http://www.nap.edu/nap/online/grad/">graduate education 
in the U.S</A>.
<p>
The UT Computer Science graduate school ranked seventh nationally in
the <!WA5><!WA5><A HREF="http://cra.org/cgi-bin/RankCS">latest NAS rankings</A>.

<p>
<p>
<H2>Frequently Asked Questions</H2>
The Graduate Advisor (currently 
<!WA6><!WA6><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/porter">Bruce Porter</A>)
, email <!WA7><!WA7><A HREF="mailto:porter@cs.utexas.edu">porter@cs.utexas.edu</A>,
has prepared a list of Frequently Asked Questions.
<p>
<UL>
<LI><em>These are not yet available.</em></LI>
<LI><!WA8><!WA8><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/faq-new-student.html">New Student FAQ</A></LI>
<LI><!WA9><!WA9><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/faq-masters.html">Masters Student FAQ</A></LI>
<LI><!WA10><!WA10><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/faq-phd.html">Doctoral Student FAQ</A></LI>
<LI><!WA11><!WA11><A HREF="mailto:porter@cs.utexas.edu,gracs@cs.utexas.edu">Ask a question</A></LI>
</UL>

<H2>Course work</H2>
The
<!WA12><!WA12><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/UTCS/academic-info/grad.bulletin.ASCII">
graduate bulletin</A> contains all of the information about 
course requirements.  Other 
<!WA13><!WA13><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/docs/academics.html"> related administrative
information</A> is available too.
<UL>
<LI><!WA14><!WA14><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/gracs/advice/courses-breadth.html">Breadth courses and Depth courses</A></LI>
<LI><!WA15><!WA15><A HREF="mailto:gracs@cs.utexas.edu">Send us your course comments or questions!</A></LI>
</UL>
<P>
<H2>Masters Students: Thesis Option or Not?</H2>
Masters students have the option of taking fewer courses and doing a
thesis, or of taking more courses and not doing a thesis.
The non-thesis option is usually faster.  You can do a Masters
degree in 18 months under this option.
The thesis option usually takes 2-3 years.  
<p>
Students who like research, are thinking of doing a PhD, or who just
want to stay in school a little longer should consider the thesis option.
If you just want to get a degree and get a job, you probably want the
non-thesis option.
<p>
<!WA16><!WA16><A HREF="mailto:gracs@cs.utexas.edu">Send us your comments or questions!</A>
<p>
<H2>Approaching the PhD</H2>
The decision to do a PhD is a major decision.  It will have a 
substantial affect on your life and career.  As you start the PhD,
take advantage of the hindsight provided by other graduate students.
The collected wisdom of generations of grad students and advisors
can be found below:
<p>
<UL>
<LI>The famous <!WA17><!WA17><A HREF="http://www.cs.indiana.edu/mit.research.how.to.html">
"How to do Research At the MIT AI Lab"</A> document is a good place to start.</LI>

<LI>And the legendary <!WA18><!WA18><A HREF="http://www.cs.indiana.edu/how.2b/how.2b.html">How to be a good Grad Student/Advisor</A> is always useful.</LI>

<LI>A huge collection of
<!WA19><!WA19><A HREF="http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/mleone/web/how-to.html">
advice for graduate students in CS</A> is available at
<!WA20><!WA20><A HREF="http://www.cs.cmu.edu">CMU</A>.</LI>

<LI>Here is a Postscript version of the
<!WA21><!WA21><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/advice-rutgers.ps">advice
guide</A> from <!WA22><!WA22><A HREF="http://paul.rutgers.edu/~csgss">Rutgers
University</A>.</LI>

</UL>

<H3>General advice</H3>
<UL>
<LI>Get started on research early.  Talk to several professors
during your first semester.  Don't "wait until I get settled in".
</LI>
<P>
<LI>The social relationship with your advisor is crucial.  If you
don't feel that your advisor is somewhat of a friend or supporter,
then the path to a PhD will be rough.</LI>
<P>
<LI>Push yourself.  Your advisor has no need to push you out.
You are doing valuable research for her/him.  If <b>you</b> want
to graduate, <b>you</b> will need to put yourself in position to do so.</LI>
</UL>
<H3>Advice specific to our department</H3>
<ul>
<LI><!WA23><!WA23><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/comment-hewett.html">Comment from Micheal Hewett (1996)</a></LI>
</ul>
<!WA24><!WA24><A HREF="mailto:gracs@cs.utexas.edu">Send us your comments or questions!</A>
<P>

<H3>Advice for women</H3>
Women feeling overwhelmed by the male-dominated sciences may be interested
in a group called Women in Computer Science.
<!WA25><!WA25><A HREF="http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/ellens">Ellen Spertus</A> at MIT
has collected a lot of information on 
<!WA26><!WA26><A HREF="http://www.ai.mit.edu/people/ellens/gender.html">gender-related
issues in CS</A>.
<!WA27><!WA27><A HREF="http://www.systers.org">Systers</A> is another national organization 
catering to women in Computer Science.
There are also local chapters of systers.  Send mail to
<!WA28><!WA28><A HREF="mailto:utcs-systers-request@cs.utexas.edu">utcs-systers-request</A>
and
<!WA29><!WA29><A HREF="mailto:austin-systers-request@cs.utexas.edu">austin-systers-request</A>
to get on the local mailing lists.
<p><br><p>
<H2>$$$$$ Funding $$$$$</H2>
Most PhD students in the department will be a TA for at least one or
two semesters during their graduate career.  TA positions are usually
available to any PhD student.  
If there is a particular class you would like to be a TA for, go talk
to the professor who teaches that class.  If the professor requests
you for a particular class, you are likely to get that class.
<p>
TA duties can range from simply grading homework (e.g. most graduate
breadth courses) to teaching two classes (e.g. CS304p).  
This reporter found that teaching two CS304P courses required less
time than grading a graduate-level course, but your experience may vary.
<p>
The hope, of course, is that your advisor will get a big research grant
that will support you as an RA for your graduate career.  This happens
most, but not all, the time.  You can help yourself by investigating
research funding opportunities and learning how to write grant proposals.
Also, apply for fellowships since they pay tuition while <em>TA and RA
positions do not include tuition waivers!</em>
<p>
<UL>
<LI><!WA30><!WA30><A HREF="http://graddiv.ucsb.edu/financial/Source.html">UCSB Funding Sources</A></Li>
</UL>
<!WA31><!WA31><A HREF="mailto:gracs@cs.utexas.edu">Send us your comments on funding!</A>
<P>
<p> 
<H2>The Thesis Proposal</H2>
<UL>
<LI><!WA32><!WA32><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/steps-proposal.html">Administrative requirements</A></LI>
<p>
<LI><b>Format</b><br><br>
Most people produce a 20-40 page document formatted like a technical report.
This means line spacing is 1.5-2, margins are average to wide, 
single-column, etc.
Remember that a bunch of older people with bad eyes will be reading the
report, so take pity on them and use a 12-point font.<p>
If you want to save time formatting your thesis, use the thesis format, but
be aware that double-spacing and wide margins will turn your document into
a 40-60 page paper.
</LI>
<p>
<LI><b>What if I don't pass?</b><br><br>
In order to pass the thesis proposal, your work must satisfy
two qualifications:
<ol>
<li>The proposed work, when completed, will constitute an acceptable
thesis from this institution; and</li>
<li>The student is capable of doing the proposed work.</LI>
</ol>
In the first place, if you don't pass your thesis proposal it reflects
worse on your advisor than it does on you, because it means that he/she
sent you in unprepared.  Probably the only way not to pass is if you
get nervous and can't answer questions from the audience.  This is not
likely to happen, especially if you practice your talk a lot.
</LI>
<p>
<LI>Student comments on the proposal process:</LI>
<ul>
<li>Still waiting for comments...
<!WA33><!WA33><A HREF="mailto:gracs@cs.utexas.edu">Send us your comments on the proposal!</A>
</ul>
</UL>
<p>
<H2>The Dissertation</H2>
<UL>
<LI>Administrative Requirements (to come)</LI>
<p>
<LI><b>Format</b>
<ul>
<li>The Computation Center has
<!WA34><!WA34><a HREF="http://www.utexas.edu/cc/docs/cca15/misc-thesis.html">
LaTeX and Word templates</a> available.</li>
<li>Here are working <!WA35><!WA35><A HREF="ftp://www.cs.utexas.edu/latex/latex2e/thesis-latex2e.tar.Z">
LaTeX2e templates</A>
from Dinesh Dao (1995).
The tar file includes <tt>utthesis.doc</tt>
and <tt>utthesis.sty</tt> files.</li>
</ul>
</LI>
<p>
<LI>Student comments on the dissertation process:</LI>
<ul>
<li><!WA36><!WA36><A HREF="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/phd-comment-baffes.html">Paul Baffes (1995)</a></li>
<li><!WA37><!WA37><A HREF="mailto:gracs@cs.utexas.edu">Send us more great stories like that!</A>
</LI>
</ul>
</UL>
<p>
<H2>Getting a job</H2>
Being an advisee of someone who is an expert in their field will be a big
help when looking for a job.  This may affect your choice of a thesis
advisor.  So the first step is to ask your advisor whether she/he
knows of any job openings.  This works better for academic jobs.
The main source of academic job listings is the December issue of CACM.
<p>
For industry jobs, try to meet people at conferences, or contact 
people who have written good papers in your area.  It doesn't hurt
to start making these contacts 2-3 years before graduation.  The
highest concentration of computer jobs is in Silicon Valley (San Jose
 - San Francisco), Boston, Austin, and the
Research Triangle area of North Carolina.  Other minor hotspots include
Seattle, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Houston, Portland, and Detroit.
<p>
CRA runs a mailing list for job announcements. Here are the instructions,
taken from their home page (<!WA38><!WA38><a href="http://www.cra.org"><tt>http://www.cra.org</tt></a>):

<pre>
*************************************************************
Anyone may subscribe to the Computing Research Association's jobs@cra.org list.
There is a cost associated with posting jobs announcements.

To Subscribe: Send the following mail message to listproc@cra.org:
                      subscribe jobs firstname lastname

Unsubscribe:  Send the following mail message to listproc@cra.org:
                      unsubscribe jobs

To Post:         Send announcement to jobs@cra.org.

Help:              Send the following mail message to listproc@cra.org:
                      help

*************************************************************
</pre>

There are also many online job listings now.  Check various newsgroups
such as ba.jobs.offered, etc.   See also:
<UL>
<LI><!WA39><!WA39><A HREF="http://www.cs.rice.edu/CS/CSGSA/GeneralInfo/index.html">Job Listings</A> (offered by Rice University)</LI>
</UL>
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